Samsung has just announced via press release its plans to officially update its Galaxy S line of phones (yep, including North American ones) to Gingerbread starting this week, with the UK and Scandinavian countries first on the list to get the Ginger-bump. Samsung has again remained characteristically ambiguous aboutexactly which Galaxy S devices will be eligible (and when) for the update directly from Kies, Samsung's device management software.

It's entirely unclear if "North American" Galaxy S phones include the heavily carrier-customized versions of the device in the United States (Captivate, Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic), or merely unbranded Canadian versions of the phone and European imports that have snuck their way onto US shores. Additionally, Samsung has said that North American market devices will be getting the update "according to the regional plan." That sounds so reassuring. Given Samsung's reputation for timeliness on Android OS updates, we certainly aren't counting our chickens before they've hatched on this one.

Frankly, I don't understand why Samsung doesn't specify with a little more concreteness exactly which Galaxy S devices this announcement concerns, because for all we know, this release could be totally irrelevant to 99% of Galaxy S devices in the US. Still, there's a solid chance it does refer to the Galaxy S devices most of our readers would be concerned with, so we thought it was worth informing you all.

We've already seen leaked Gingerbread builds for the Galaxy S from Europe, as well as reports of Gingerbread on the Galaxy Tab - which the announcement also includes among its list of devices that will be getting updated. See the full press release, below:

The upgrade from Froyo 2.2 to Gingerbread 2.3 offers an even greater user experience, with features including: · Faster Performance – Multimedia content now has a lower CPU consumption rate, while support for more powerful 3D Graphics enables an enhanced mobile gaming experience. · Upgraded Usability – The user interface has been improved, enabling faster access and control and a more intuitive user experience. Users will also benefit from improved copy-and-paste functionality.

The Android 2.3 upgrade will start with GALAXY S in the UK and Nordic countries from mid-May, and gradually rolled out to other European markets, North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East Asia, Africa and rest of the world according to the regional plan.

The upgrade will be available via Kies, Samsung's device management software. Kies can be downloaded from Samsung's corporate website (http://www.samsung.com).

Given Samsung's update history, do we really expect them to be using the same calendar as everyone else? May could mean anything.

Tom

which means that those of us with the fascinate won't see the gingerbread update until late december early january, which is fine because i'm upgrading my phone in november (or doing it off contract in February)

Jordan

So as a Fascinate owner... I can expect my update last... hopefully before the world ends in 2012

I believe Samsung is based in South Korea. Shouldn't they be rolling out the updates ASAP to the United States since we are the only ones backing them up against North Korea? Where is the love?

juniorsgv

bout time, but too late. returned my galaxy tab.

cosmic

"according to regional plan"=depends on how much the wireless carriers in your area decides to f*** with it. There is a reason other parts of the world get updates faster than phones on US wireless companies.

Brian Davison

Agree with all previous comments, ive been trying to update my Galaxy tab and S on Kies since it was announced
earlier this week. All I get is that the current up-to date firmware is installed. And it's still froyo 2.2

Ray

Cosmic is quite correct about the fact that it is the local carriers who decide when users in any region get the update, as they have to make their "mods" to enable the update to work with their UI's. Dont blame Samsung altogether or Google. If you have a genuine Google phone you get the update straight away. Unlike us in Australia who have to wait for several carriers to "make it work" for them, before we get the update.

Tim

My GT is not from a carrier, but I still have not got the GB update :-(